The startup’s idea is a self-charging smart shoe for visually impaired people to assist them in walking without the need of any other support and help them become independent. Aryavarta’s school is near the Blind People’s Association and they used to be taken there regularly to donate books to visually challenged people and interact with them. The daily struggles of the visually impaired, especially seeing how dependent they are on others, is what inspired the young innovator’s idea. The Ahmedabad boy sees his startup bringing a positive change in the lives of the visually impaired by creating niche products for them. In the next five years, Aryavarta sees the launch of plug n play model of the smart shoe. This means people would not be required to buy the whole shoe, but only the device and the sole, which would be compatible with any other shoe. The model is being designed currently, he says. The most exciting part was designing the 3D model for covering the electronics, and the difficult part was connecting multiple wires correctly. Aryavarta’s favourite innovator is Nikola Tesla, who he says just focused on working for society’s betterment. Going ahead, he wants to come up with innovations that can allow specially-abled people to be independent and help them tap their potential. When feeling low, the youngster clears his mind by reading about new discoveries and the latest in science & technology. He says raising awareness among children about problems can encourage them to find solutions and become innovators. “The journey with CIF has been amazing. I have learnt so much from the boot camps and lectures,” he says.